Adult attachment style modulates neural responses in a mentalizing task

- The neural correlates of mentalizing were investigated using an interactive task.
- Impact of adult attachment styles “avoidance” (AV) and “anxiety” (ANX) was examined.
- AV was positively and ANX negatively correlated with task-associated neural activity.
- Avoidantly attached adults activated brain areas implicated in emotion regulation.

Adult attachment style (AAS) is a personality trait that affects social cognition. Behavioral data suggest that AAS influences mentalizing proficiency, i.e. the ability to predict and explain people's behavior with reference to mental states, but the neural correlates are unknown. We here tested how the AAS dimensions “avoidance” (AV) and “anxiety” (ANX) modulate neural correlates of mentalizing.We measured brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 164 healthy subjects during an interactive mentalizing paradigm (Prisoner's Dilemma Game). AAS was assessed with the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, including the subscales AV and ANX.Our task elicited a strong activation of the mentalizing network, including bilateral precuneus, (anterior, middle, and posterior) cingulate cortices, temporal poles, inferior frontal gyri (IFG), temporoparietal junctions, superior medial frontal gyri as well as right medial orbital frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and amygdala. We found that AV is positively and ANX negatively correlated with task-associated neural activity in the right amygdala, MFG, midcingulate cortex, and superior parietal lobule, and in bilateral IFG. These data suggest that avoidantly attached adults activate brain areas implicated in emotion regulation and cognitive control to a larger extent than anxiously attached individuals during mentalizing.